Shadow Puppets

Your Child Will Learn

Exploring light and shadow with puppets

Turn a flashlight on and turn the lights out. Use your hands to make a shadow on the wall, and talk about what’s happening. (You can also use a phone flashlight.)
With the lights on, make a simple puppet.
- Cut a body shape out of cardboard, index cards, or a paper plate.
- Attach a straw or popsicle stick to make a handle.
- Have your child decorate the puppet with supplies like felt, yarn, pom poms, fuzzy sticks, feathers, cotton balls, etc.
Turn off the lights and hold the puppet in front of the flashlight to create puppet shadows. Talk about what the shadow looks like.
Move the puppet closer to the flashlight and farther away. Talk about how the shadow changes as you move it.

PAUSE

ENGAGE

“Shadows are made when something blocks light. See how my hand blocks the light coming from the flashlight and makes a shadow on the wall?”
“How does the shadow change when I move the puppet closer to the flashlight? What happens when it’s farther away?”

ENCOURAGE

Help your child notice similarities and differences between the puppet and the shadow, like:
- “Can you see the shadow’s eyes and mouth? Why not?”
- “What do you notice about the shape of the puppet, does it change when it’s a shadow?”
“What do you notice about the size of the shadow when I move the puppet? What do you notice about the edges of the shadow?”

REFLECT

“How might you design a puppet differently next time so it makes an extra cool shadow?”

Experiment with making shadows with different types of light (sunlight, ceiling lights, flashlight, lamp, etc.).

See how different light sources affect the puppet’s shadow.

They will understand how to create shadows and what changes their size and shape.

15-30 minutes

Flashlight (or the flashlight from a phone)
Cardboard, index cards, or a paper plate
A straw or popsicle stick
Puppet decoration materials (felt, yarn, pom poms, fuzzy sticks, feathers, cotton balls, etc.)